Jewish visits to tinderbox Temple Mount up 15% last month – NGO

More than 7,500 Jews ascended the Temple Mount during the Hebrew month of Av, marking a 15 percent increase, compared to the same period last year, according to the Temple Mount Administration, an NGO that facilitates Jewish visits to the site.

According to the organization, 54,231 Jews have ascended the flashpoint holy site since the beginning of the year, including 951 people who visited the site on Sunday and Monday, which marked the start of the Hebrew month of Elul.

The Temple Mount, which was the site of the ancient Jewish Temples, today houses the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock shrine. While Jews are permitted in the compound, many Muslims see the rise in visits, especially by religious Jews, as part of a plot to undermine the status quo agreement governing the site, under which only Muslim prayer is sanctioned. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has committed to safeguarding the arrangement, despite attempts by some of his political allies, particularly National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, to challenge the prohibition on Jewish prayer there.